PROCESS

I started my page by applying colour in a starburst fashion, leaving no white space, to give the impression that the colours were going way beyond the spread. I dried my paint with my heat tool and covered my spread with a coat of clear gesso. This will allow me to write and draw on top of my pages more easily. Indeed, while Golden acrylics are of a professional quality, once dry, they can be quite glossy and plastic-y, rendering layering quite difficult and limiting if you are not using acrylic paint for the subsequent layers. The clear gesso will give a more matte finish.

Once my page was filled in and my gesso was dry, I wrote my title in the middle and created a star bubble effect around it to echo the starburst effect of the colours.

I then wrote in each colour section the emotions that each colour conveyed for me.

Once I finished, I looked at my spread and found it quite bland, so I added extra elements with my big brush pen by creating rows of scallops on the edges and colouring in in black every other one to add contrast.

This was a very easy page to make and great for experimenting with colour mixing, which I rarely do, sadly.

The fact that I used a very stiff bristles brush to, first, apply my white gesso (off camera) and then apply my colours dry brushing, creates an amazing texture of random brushstrokes going every direction and letting the white gesso peek through.